Listening to the quiet trail movement on Chaishan, quiet parks become an international conservation trend

Text / Tu Jianfeng

Series preface: In March 2015, my university classmate and chairperson of the Taiwan Soundscape Association, Fan Qin-hui, published the new book "Rescuing Silence." The title is interesting - does silence also need rescuing? After reading it, I truly felt it is an epoch-making good book. No one is unfamiliar with this issue, and everyone is accustomed to the intrusion of noise, but realizing that silence has become a scarce resource, to the point that it must be rescued, further awakened us to the crisis of modern civilization.

Although the arguments in this book are not unprecedented, it is Taiwan's first systematic classic work exploring "soundscape," combining soundscape with ecological protection, from bodily discourse to the mind. Yes! This is exactly the action concept Taiwan needs now, and also a civic movement that must be started immediately.

On January 16, Fan Qin-hui and Soundscape Association secretary-general Hong Yong-xin came south. I invited Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society director-general Lin Kun-hai, Earth Citizen Foundation chief executive Li Gen-zheng, Sanyu Bookstore's Xie Yi-lin, and other good friends to discuss. At the meeting, a consensus was reached: we should experience Kaohsiung City's geographical characteristics of "mountain, sea, river, port" through soundscape, and combine this with locally advocated issues. Therefore, we chose four topics - Chaishan, which is bombarded by radios; Qieding Wetland, facing road construction cutting through it; Qijin, facing industrial pollution; and the cultural Weiwuying - to hold workshops, face each area's unique issues, and gather energy for change.

This series of articles is the record of this civic movement. This article focuses on Chaishan. For other articles, please click here.

Promoting quiet into law, Chaishan's "Quiet Trail Movement"

Having climbed Chaishan for so long, the biggest nuisance is that a minority of hikers listen to radios while climbing, which is very annoying. A senior who loves climbing Chaishan, Yang Bo-ming, vice chairman of the Kaohsiung Chaishan Association, told me, "This must be promoted. I often tell people that when climbing mountains you should listen to insects, birds, and the wind, not the radio, and I even got scolded for it!" Former Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society chairman Ou Rui-yao also said, "Bird calls are so beautiful. You can't hear them at home. You can listen to the radio at home!"

After everyone discussed it, the resolution was to promote Chaishan's "Quiet Trail Movement"! The idea is roughly like this:

1. Write a proposal explaining why Shoushan Nature Park needs to promote the "Quiet Trail," establish a culture of quiet mountain forests, and start by not listening to radios.

2. Consider whether to immediately promote the legalization of quiet by directly adding a prohibition on playing radios to the announced prohibited items in Shoushan National Nature Park? Visit the preparatory office of the Shoushan National Nature Park Management Office and ask about the possibility of legalization? Hold public hearings to promote the "Quiet Trail," hold related activities, and invite environmental groups, the Shoushan Management Office, legislators, councilors, and the public to climb Shoushan together, promoting along the way, "The Quiet Trail begins~~~~"